Hey guys, I got this guitar when i was very young from my father. Although its not the highest quality of guitars it has sentimental value and id like to get it playable once again. It's been kicked around for quite a while. There is some sort of crack on the bottom of the neck, on the side, as shown in the picture. Aside from that there are no other cracks that I can see.
Also, the bridge needs to be reglued. Is that something that I can do at home with a moderate amount of mechanical aptitude?
Anyways here are the pictures, please let me know your opinions. I've never built/rebuilt a guitar so this will be my first go round. Lastly hehe, my first post on the forums, looks like a great place guys, glad i can be a part of it.
-Tay
If more pics are needed for any reason let me know! Thanks in advance for help rendered
>BUMP<
Hey guys, im sure someone out there has some insight. If you have the time id really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.
Hi
And welcome to Guitar Noise.
I'm afraid that I can't answer your repair question (and in all seriousness, you definitely want repair advice from someone else! :wink: ) but I'm sure someone will be able to give you some feedback.
We've got a lot of members here who visit the Forums, and they do so on their own time and schedule. So don't think that just because you've not gotten a response within two hours of your initial post (and on a Sunday, no less) that folks are ignoring you. Bumping your post isn't going to get you your answers any sooner - it's more likely to make people wonder if you're interested at all in being a part of the community.
So be patient and visit. Introduce yourself over on the "Meet and Greet" page. And give people time to give you answers that will, hopefully, be of help.
Looking forward to seeing you around the boards.
Peace
If the instrument has sentimental value, but you also want to be able to play it well, take it into an experienced repair shop. It's difficult to tell by pictures alone what the extent (if any) of the actual damage is.
As for the fretboard re-gluing, I would recommend against doing this yourself. A tiny difference in height or position of the fretboard can render a guitar nearly (or totally) unplayable.
Good luck.
I'd give Andy his broken guitar back
Hey - and welcome :D
Okay; so, the 'crack' in the dovetail, and the bridge pulling up - right?
Do you know if the crack is in the wood?
Or maybe it's just a stress crack in the finish?
Are you aware of any 'accident' that occured with it that could have caused the actual wood to crack?
If not, I would guess that it's just in the paint.
As far as the bridge goes - it will have to be taken all the way off to fix it.
Be as careful as you can.... if any other pieces stay with the bridge (ie. finish/wood), leave them in place on the bridge.
They will help you place the bridge correctly.
Elmers White wood glue works just fine for that.... or some other basic wood glue.
Clean the two areas and reglue.... don't be bashful with the glue, but try and not get any on the finish either!
Most pros will tell you to use an abundance of 'C' clamps, and if you have them - GREAT!
If not, I just used some heavy weight to keep it together while the glue dried with mine.
Worked just fine.
If you look on the net - I'm sure you can find a good picture tutorial.
If I find one - I'll post it here.
Those strings look like they could be used for bridge cable!
Might be just the camera angle though.
If they are thick, you might wanna go with a thinner set.
The strings appear to be pretty far from the fretboard - so, I don't know how the playability is on it....
might need to have the trussrod adjusted and stuff like that - you'll know more after the bridge is re-set.
If that's the case - tackle that later.
Good luck
Ken
"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway
"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles
Hi citizenNoir! Thanks for the reply.
I'm not sure if the crack is in the wood or just in the finish. All around the body of the guitar has those stress looking cracks, but where the fretboard lays flat across the face of the guitar is still tightly adhered with no finish coming off.
Edit: I plan on taking the guitar into a repair shop locally and asking about the neck, and I will get back with the results from that after the weekend hopefully.
I disassembled everything except for the bridge which seems to have some bolts and nuts or similar holding it on.
I put a flashlight in the guitar body and with the lights off, checked for cracks. There are no cracks in the body. All in All the guitar is in okay shape.
Yes, the strings were very high off of the fretboard, which, coupled with the unglued bridge made the guitar literally unplayable. I also noticed during disassembly that one of the tuners was broken.
I plan on sanding the body down, and putting on a new finish, along with a new pickguard, new tuners, strings, bridge, and all neccessary pins and the like.
as far as fixing the crack on the "dovetail"... after the finish is sanded, would a wood glue used to fill the crack be the appropriate method?
Sorry I'm really new to all this and I really appreciate the help rendered this far.
Thanks guys
-Tay
it's a bit surprising if there are screws or bolts holding on the bridge, but it's possible either due to low cost construction techniques or if someone tried to repair the bridge. the problem here, is that bridge really needs to be removed to be properly repaired. after removal, the glue residue should be removed from both the bridge and guitar. the guitar's top may need to be flattened to remove the (obvious) bellying (outward curve from normal flat state). that requires some work in itself -- maybe some brace removal, flattening by weights and/or clamping and regluing of the brace(s). installation of a JLD Bridge Doctor might be worth consideration. before the bridge is reglued, the bottom of the bridge should be reshaped to match the flatness/curve contour of the (re-flattened) guitar top. Original Titebond glue or carpenter's wood glue is the right stuff for remounting the bridge.
-=tension & release=-
